Don't get me wrong, of course views are spectacular and leave you with your jaw on the floor, but Croatia has gone through so much... and yet, it's still such young country!
This time, I will take you through my visit in Dubrovnik. You can find a sneak peak of the adventure we had to go through after leaving this city!
So as for a better understanding on what I felt from this city, I will split this post into two parts:
- History
- Views
Picturesque fortresses
As in most parts of Europe, the medieval history still gets to shine up to now. It's just as if time has never passed by: each stone, brick, bridge and wall has a deep story to tell. And I'm all ears to all of them.
As we all know, Croatia is barely 30 years old as a country, that's just a couple of years more than I am, weird right?
It has been for so many years part of the huge communist country called Yugoslavia, and after a very bloody war in 1990, Croatia was finally free to become a republic. Every single croatian I've talked with is incredibly proud of their history and all they had to go through to finally achieve their freedom... and there's such special and magical spark on their eyes when they talk about it.
But even before that, the now-called-Croatia territory used to be attacked quite often by the italians from the Venetto region... so, just to protect themselves, people from Dubrovnik had to build incredibly huge walls in order to preserve their town and avoid attacks either from land or sea.
The city (or Old Town) is constructed entirely inside the walls that protect it. You see carved stone and rocky buildings everywhere, despite the huge amount of time that has gone by, everything is incredibly well preserved and their civilians are proud to have such rich history when it comes to surviving different attacks...
Of course, it makes a beautiful sight of the city, and I dare say it's one of the key things or insignias of Dubrovnik. You simply can't go there and avoid the walls... well, you could, but they're simply everywhere.
As I've said before, this acted as a protection against sea attacks, as more than once the city got invaded by italians from the Venetto region, back in the times in which Italy wasn't united.
Bonus track: Did you know there's a 20km boarder with Bosnia and Herzegovina that's in the middle of Croatia?! Whenever travelling via land from Dubrovnik to Split, you will have to cross borders in Bosnia and then get back into Croatia. Well, that's because Dubrovnik people disliked so much the Venetto people that were, at that time, controlling part of the territory nearby that gave out those 20km to the Ottoman Empire, just to make sure that they would not be invaded and that there would still be some sort of protection in case they were planning something. Interesting, right!?
Ok, enough of the walls and fortresses...
What about the Old Town?!
Old Town itself is simply beautiful. Inside those huge walls, lays a gorgeous city that has survived not only a huge fire in 1600, but also two huge earthquakes in 2020... and, as well as that, incredibly high temperatures summer after summer.
It's pretty easy to see this city: there's this huge avenue in the middle that separated the territory into two... and after that, it's all small streets and alleys for you to get lost and explore!
Of course, and in most European cities, you get to see a lot of different churches. Some are incredibly simple, as this one, and others are a lot more ostentous. What I really liked about this city is that everything looked amazing and give such peaceful vibe.
Wherever you were paying attention to, there were lots and lots and lots of details to focus on. Whether it was fountains, little lanterns hanging from the shops or just different sculptures, everything seem to go great with the overall decoration.
This is the most famous fountain of the city, in which locals tend to gather and share a good moment.
Here you can see the main Square:
And of course, I couldn't leave Dubrovnik without visiting the Walls!!
It was such warm day, incredibly warm... although there was no sun, the high temperatures were almost asfixiating and, of course, as you are constantly climbing strairs, a lot of people were feeling dizzy.
But believe me, it was worthy it for the amazing views you got:
Of course,I was pretending not to be suffering the heat, lol:
Breathtaking views
Whether it's a pure view from nature itself or just the landscape with the fortresses on them, Dubrovnik is a place in which you will always find something incredibly beautiful to take a look at.
Here you can see one side of one of the small fortresses. Just cliff, the Adriatic sea and a very thin line that divides the sky horizon from the water:
This is Lovrjenac Fortress, one of the top spots of the city. This was not only a fortress but also a theatre... and in fact, the day we were going to visit it, there was a marriage ceremony taking place!
This is me, trying to smile despite the incredibly warm weather and high temperatures, lol:
Aside from history and medieval constructions made of stone, Croatia is probably one of the most beautiful places when it comes to landscapes. I still can't get used to all those incredibly tall cliffs and the crystal clear water of the sea. It's such amazing constrast!!
One might say that the only drawback that Croatia has is the lack of sandy beaches... but who cares?! Lol.
Mostly, all beaches that you can find are rocky... and even, locals have a special type of "shoe" that allows them to get into the sea and protect their feet from the damage that stepping on a rock can cause. Still, I enjoyed a lot being there, in contact with nature!
I really hope you enjoyed these pictures of Dubrovnik as much as I enjoyed taking them!
It's for sure one beautiful city that has a lot of mystery and secrets hidden, so I hope to have showed you a tiny bit at least of how I really felt it!
Thank you so much for reading!!